Lark, Ophoven and Maaseik

Between Neeroeteren and Maaseik you will find a hamlet called Schootsheide. It is also known as"Heikant\\\" or simply"Hei\\\". This extensive swampy heathland was reclaimed in the mid-nineteenth century, so that the hamlet could be created. The Lourdes Grotto and chapel, built in 1932, are striking. Much value appeared to be attached to the place where Our Lady of Lourdes is venerated, because in 1939 a Marian park with a cavalry mountain, state chapels of Our Lady of Sorrows and a Marian chapel were also built on this site. In the vicinity of Schootsheide, drainage meadows were created that could be artificially irrigated with nutrient-rich water from the Bosbeek that flows through the Bosbeek valley and the T?sch-Langeren nature reserve. This nature reserve is relatively small at 84 hectares, but the swampy landscape is still well preserved. Large grazers are a natural solution for the maintenance of T?sch-Langeren and the water rail and the honey buzzard like to settle there. The Bosbeek damselfly floats along the Bosbeek.